The competition watchdog has unveiled wide-ranging allegations of cigarette price-fixing involving tobacco companies and some of the UK’s leading supermarkets, days after it was forced to make a humiliating apology over incorrect accusations in another antitrust probe.

In a statement released on Friday the Office of Fair Trading named eleven retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and the Co-operative Group, which it accuses of two separate infringements. The watchdog also named WM Morrison only 48 hours after it agreed to pay £100,000 damages and costs to the retailer over mistakes in a statement about alleged milk price-fixing.